Animal trap



Feb. 13, 1940. A, D, SUND 2,190,089

' ANIMAL TRAP y Fil`ed Dec. l5, 1937 ATTORNE Patented Feb. 13, 1940 UN [TED STATES PATENT OFFICEk I y t l 2,190,089 y TRAP i y Alfred D. sund, Santa Rosa, Calif. Application December 13, 1I)37',`Serial No. 179,479

5Claims'.

I This inventionl relates to animal traps of. the type particularly adapted,` and Acommonly used, in the capture of rodents such'as mice andr rats.

It is an object of the invention' to provide an I improved bait holder for such a trap which eliminates the possibility of the animal removing the bait without springing the trap.

Another objectyof the invention is to provide an improved trigger for the trap which greatly` i increases its sensitivity; i

A further object of the invention is to vide an. animal trap possessed of greatly` increased eiiiciency of operation over similar types of traps in general `use which may be produced at an inappreoiable increase in manufacturing cost over that ofthe latter type `of trap.

' The inventionpossesses other objects and features of advantage, some of' which, together with the foregoing, will be specifically set forth in the 20'" detailed description of the'invention hereunto annexed. It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited `to "the particular species thereof shownand described as various other embodimentsjthereof may be employed within the i 2" scope of the appended claims. i

Referring to 'the drawing:

Figure l is a top plan view of the complete animal trap'of my invention.

Figure 2v is a'vertical sectional view ofthe lstructure shown in Figure 1, the plane of section 'being indicated lby the line 2`2 in the latter ligure. .j

Figures 4*3 and 4 are, respectively, perspective views of diierent forms of4 bait holders.

,35i Althoughthe most familiar type of rodent trap,

comprising' a wooden base vsurxnounted by a spring-tensioned jaw Whichis'pivoted on the'base andfsnaps from an open position to a closed position to pinion the rodent to the base when it retouches a baited release trigger, has long been in public favor and is concededto 'be the most successful trap for its puiooseg'itv possesses' one serious weakness which prevents its most eiiicient operation. This deciency centers around 43' the bait trigger frictionally engaging thel distal end of the jaw release rod whichl is pivotally connectedat its proximal end to the base and yserves to hold the tensioned trap jaw in its open position. Due to thegreat strength of the trap 50i aw spring, which Ais necessary to snap the jaw shut after the trap is sprung so that the agile animal will, not have time to escape, the frictionall pressure exerted by the release rod on the portion of the trigger which itengages is conlsiderable,l sometimes. requiring the exertion ofA spring `I2 is concentricwith and surroundsthe abnormal pressure on the trigger before the trap will be sprung.' Traps setin such a manner are useless for it has been found thatalmost invariably the animal may eat the bait without being in any danger of capture. The user, after once nding the trap stripped oi bait Without being sp1ung`,neXt sets the trap with a i light trigger, that is, the trigger is engaged with the release rody very close to the free end of the latter so that only slight movement of the'fl."t

trigger is required to release.theconneetion .In a great number of cases traps set in this manner will be foundto'have tripped rprenni'turely due to vibrations` transmitted through the ground" or the building causing the delicateengagement"I of the trigger and release-rod to break. I have, to a great extent, eliminated these undesirable Vfeatures by providing a multiple trigger for traps which produces the desired degree of sensitive-vl ness without requiring anyspecial setting of the `n trigger and by providing a bait holder which renders it impossible for the bait to be removed by `the animal without setting on the trap,

In detail, the trap comprises the usual rectangulan'preferably wooden, base 6 provided in``r uf axle 8 and is provided at one end with an extension I3, which is anohoredto the base 6, and at the other end with an extension I4 whose outer end is in engagement with one of the trap jaw arms 9. The function ofthe spring I2 is to snap the trap jaw from its open position, shown tion as indicated by the dotted lines I5. The

usual release rod I'Ihaving at one end a closed loop I8, which engages a staple i9 secured in i the base so as to pivotally mount the rodl on the base,v is provided overlying and engaging the trap jaw to maintain the latter in its open posi tion, and the opposite end 2I of the release rod is releasably connected to the bait trigger gener ally indicated by the numeral 22. e

In the base 6, in the area thereof below the bait trigger, is provided an opening 23 having upwardly converging sides and one-end and in i the opening is positioned a movable platforrn-24` 40? i by the solid lines in Figure 2, to its closed posi Gil having sides and one endl sloped in' conformity.

with those of the opening so that the platform is restrained from movement upwardly beyond the upper surface of the base, but is free to move in the opening toward the bottom surface of the base. One end of the platform is pivotally connected to the base by means of an axle 26 whose opposite ends are secured by staples 21 to the base and whose medial portion isv straddled by staples 28 secured in and adjacent one end of the platform. It is on this movable platform that the bait trigger is mounted, the latter cornprising av strip of sheet material formedto pro-` vide a bait arm 29 having a depression 3| therein, a doubled over portion which provides a foot 32 resting on the surface of the platform and an upwardly extending arm 33 having an aperture or notch 34 therein in which the end 2| of the'- release rod is engaged. The trigger is pivotally mounted on the platform by means of a wide staple 36. f

It has been the practice heretofore to tie a piece of bait to the arm 29. This has proven unsatisfactory for more than one reason. In the first place, frangible material such as cheese is very likely to break when first nibbled at by the animal and fall from the trigger whereupon it may be eaten without any danger of springing the trap unless the animal accidentally brushes against the trigger. In the second place,

30; 3 since the whole of the bait is exposed, the animal is likely to eatfrom the bottom of the b-ait upwardly, thus imposing an upward pressure on the bait trigger which only tends to set the latter more securely. I have provided a bait holder which permits access to the bait only from the top of the trigger,thereby insuring that the first nibble of the animal will 'produce the desired downward pull on the trigger sufficient to free the end of the release rod and spring the trap.

', fgIn Figures 3 and 4 are shown two forms of bait holder each comprising a plate 31 having at both longitudinal edges and one end thereof inturned flanges 38 which provide, respectively, guideways 39 which permit the plate to be slipped over the gbait arm 29 as shown in Figures 1 and 2, and a stop 4| which contacts the distal end of the bait arm to limit the degree of engagement of the plate therewith. The plate is provided with a centrally located protuberance 42 which forms l,a depression 43 in the underside of the plate registrable with the depression 3| of the bait arm to form a chamber 44. This chamber' forms the receptacle4 for the bait, it being apparent that when material such as cheese is placed in each of the depressions 3| and 43 and the plate 31 is slipped onto the bait arm the chamber it will be full. In the protuberance 42 is provided an aperture through which a quantity of bait in the chamber 44 may protrude. An elongated aperture 4'! is shown in the modied form of bait holder illustrated in Figure 4, the reason for which will be `presently described.

When an animal approaches the trap, set as it is shown in Figure 2, it must climb onto the base 6 in order to reach the bait, since the only eX- posed portion of the latter is on top of the bait trigger, and in so doing is quite likely to place its feet on the platform 24 thereby causing the platform to swing downwardly toward thel position indicated by the dotted lines 43 and release the end of the rod il from the aperture 34 which will spring the trap. The downward movement of the platform is limited by a rod 453 spanning the aperture 23. It will be seen therefore that -the trap may be sprung even before the animal 2,190,138@ f' v, reaches the bait. If, however, the animal does not impose any of its weight on the platform, its efforts to dig the bait out of the chamber through the aperture thereof will surely release the trigger. The elongated aperture, shown in the modification of Figure 4, invites the animal to claw the bait out of the bait chamber thereby creating the desired downward pressure on the bait trigger suflicient to trip it.

The improved trap of *myl invention just described has Iproven, under actual 'workingv conditionsg'more' sensitive than "ordinary traps of a. like character, incapable of being stripped of bait without being set off, easier to load with .bait than the usual trap in which the bait must be tied on, and, although being quite sensitive, may b'ehandled after being set without danger of :inflicting injury to the person handling it due to being accidentally set off.

` 1. An animal trap comprising a base having an opening therein, a member within said opening and pivotally connected at one end thereof to said base, powered' vmechanism on said base adapted Vto be set to ensnare 'ananimal andincluding a releasableelement overlying said member, a trigger pivotally mounted on said member and having an arm releasably engaged with said releasable element and a bait arm, and means slidably engaged with saidv bait arm for `attaching a quantity-of bait thereto.

2. An animal 'trap'l comprising 'a base having an opening therein a member within said opening and pivotally connected at one' end lthereof to said base, powered Imechanism on said base adapted to be set to ensnare an animal and including a releasable'element overlying said mem ber,` a trigger pivotally mounted on said member and having an arm releasably engaged with said releasable element and a baitl arm, said bait arm having a depressiontherein, and a plate having a depression therein, and an aperture communieating with said latter depression, slidably en-v ga'geable with said bait arm to position both of said depressions in relative registry to provide a hollow chamber in which a quantity of bait may be placed.

3. An animal trap lcomprising a base having a spring-pressed trap Ajaw pivotally mounted thereon and .movable4 from a set position to an unset position, a platform pivota-lly mounted on said base, a trap jaw release rod pivotally mounted at one end thereof on said base, said release rod, when thetrap jaw is in set position, overlying said trap vjavv-andfhaving its free end overlying said platform, and a bait trigger' comprising a lever pivotally mounted on said platform and releasably engaging said tra'p jaw release rod.

4, An animal trap I,comprisingv. a base having overlying said platform, a bait trigger compris-v ing a. lever pivotally mounted on said platform and releasably engaging said trap jaw release rod, and a bait holder comprising a member removably engageab-le with said bait trigger and havinga portion 'thereof spaced with respect to g aportion or"4r the bait trigger to provide a hollow chamber for containing a quantity of bait.

5. In an animal trap having a release element, a. bait trigger comprising a movable lever releasablyjengaging said release element, and a bait holder comprising a member slidably engageable with said bait trigger and spaced in a portion thereof frelative thereto to provide a hollow chamber for containing a quantity of bait and enclosed by a continuous wall formed by respective adjacent portions of the bait holder and bait trigger, and said chamber `wall having therein an aperture through which a quantity of said bait is exposed. l ALFRED D. SUND. 

